Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the position set out in Ofcom's consultation on protecting children from harms online, published in May, that there is "currently limited independent evidence on the capability of current age assurance methods to correctly distinguish between child users of different ages to a highly effective standard, without disproportionately affecting children’s rights", and that its focus is therefore currently on "establishing recommended protections for all children under the age of 18, rather than tailoring those protections for children in different age groups", in the light of (1) the findings of the benchmarking of facial age estimation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which concluded that this approach is effective at ascertaining the ages of people under 18; and (2) the audits by the Age Check Certification Scheme of 11 age estimation providers.

It is for Ofcom to recommend the types of age assurance that it considers to be highly effective for services to meet their duties under the Online Safety Act. Ofcom must ensure guidance is legally robust and based on sufficient evidence to ensure it withstands challenge.

Age assurance methods are developing rapidly and there are a growing range of tools to support children to have a safe and age-appropriate experience online. We welcome research that contributes to the evidence base which may help Ofcom expand the list of recommended technologies in future iterations of the guidance.